Stranded
by GennaWeasley
Summary: Twenty-ish years after Arch Enemy, Queen Alyss and Dodge have two children. Homburg Molly has a child, too - the same age as the elder of Alyss and Dodge's kids. They're known for imaginative pranks, which gets them into serious trouble. Or Does It?
1. A Birthday Surprise

One: A Birthday Surprise

'Young Alyss', as she was often called, gently tapped on the door of Prince Nolan Heart's bedchamber. She whispered, "Nolan, it's Emalie's birthday. We simply must go surprise her." Nolan mumbled something that Young Alyss couldn't distinguish. She continued to whisper through the door, "Alright, Nol, you give me no choice. I'll go wake her by myself, but if Molly or Queen Alyss or Dodge catch me, I'm taking you down with me!" She turned to leave and the door opened behind her.

"Lyssie, you're frustratingly manipulative," Nolan grumbled. "Why do you never call Molly 'mother'?"

"I don't think it fits her," Alyss said offhandedly. They crept through Heart Palace as the sun just barely began to rise outside. When they reached Princess Emalie's door, Young Alyss glanced at Nolan. He looked mischievous and she nodded. They opened the door quietly and stepped inside. The princess was wrapped up in her blankets and curled up into a little ball with her head at the wrong side of the bed. Young Alyss grinned. She moved Emalie's pillow so that it was touching Emalie's feet, then imagined it into a pile of gwormies. Then she and Nolan loudly chorused, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EMALIE!"

Emalie screamed and without a glance behind her, Alyss fled. She knew from the sound of bare feet hitting stone floors behind her that either Nolan had escaped behind her or Emalie was chasing her. She was inclined to believe the former, because Emalie hadn't yet actually followed them after they'd pranked her. When she reached Nolan's door, she turned around panting. Her best friend was approaching the door, and the distant sounds of Emalie's screams were echoing down the hall towards them.

"Lyssie… Emalie's… going to… _murder_… us… for… that," Nolan panted.

"Pssh, she's not the one I'm worried about. With our combined imaginations, we can take Emalie easily. On the other hand, if your mother or my mother decides to kill us, I don't think even Dodge can help us," Alyss mused.

Bibwit Harte, the tutor who had tutored 4 or 5 generations of queens (when they were still future queens) including Princess Emalie Heart, approached them in the hallway. He said, "Unless my incredibly good ears are deceiving me, you two have just pulled your annual birthday prank on Emalie."

"That we did, Bibwit. So, are you going to tell Molly or Older Alyss this year?" Young Alyss replied reasonably politely.

"Neither, as they have obviously already noticed the results of your prank," said Bibwit. Young Alyss and Nolan both whipped around to see Queen Alyss (also frequently referred to as 'Older Alyss' by members of the royal family and the queen's advisors and friends) and her bodyguard and good friend, Homburg Molly, approaching them. Homburg Molly made eye contact with her daughter, who knew immediately that it was clearly too early for her and Nolan to be in trouble.

"Nolan, Alyss, generally I do not object to the two of you pulling a prank on Emalie on her birthday every year, but when the pranks get to the point where they're happening at this hour of the morning, I have to draw the line," Older Alyss said sternly.

"Em woke you up, didn't she?" Nolan said amusedly. The queen nodded and behind her, Molly mimicked the face Emalie had made when they'd made their appearance in her room (which usually only lasted long enough to ascertain that Nolan and Young Alyss were behind the screams).

"I'm going back to bed, and I don't want to hear one more sound out of the two of you _or out of Emalie_ until breakfast," Older Alyss said, then she turned and walked away down the hall. Young Alyss grimaced as her namesake walked away. Bibwit had left sometime during the conversation, leaving Nolan and Young Alyss with Homburg Molly.

"Alyss," Molly began sternly.

"Before you begin, I'd like to point out that it was just a prank, and we do this every year and if I were you, I'd have long since given up on lecturing Nolan and I on how immature it is, because it's completely lost on us," Young Alyss said to her mother.

"That wasn't what I was going to say. Alyss, Nolan, did you _really_ only choose to turn her pillow into gwormies this year? Because it seems to be far beneath your usual standards," Molly replied.

"Oh, don't worry, Molly. This was just the beginning," Nolan said with a mischievous look in his green eyes.

"That's what I was afraid of," Molly murmured as she walked away from the two 17-year-olds who were talking in low voices, presumably about their plans for the rest of the day.


	2. Only a Picnic

_Note: obviously, I don't own LGW. I did come up with Young Alyss, Nolan and Emalie (and some characters that haven't yet been introduced), however. Hope you like this chapter _

Two: Only a Picnic

A few lunar hours later, Nolan and Alyss were sitting in the palace garden, talking quietly. Emalie was watching them from a balcony up above. Alyss found her there with her imagination's eye and moved closer to Nolan. She whispered, "Nol, Emalie's watching us. She's up there." She subtly gestured toward where Emalie was standing.

"Do you think she's trying to listen in on us, Lyss? Trying to figure out what our plans are?" Nolan asked. Alyss nodded. He added, "Well, she's not going to hear anything, is she?"

Alyss replied, "Of course not. As if we would ever discuss our secret plans on the day of Emalie's birthday. We're far too professional for that!"

"I think professional is the wrong word to use here, Lyssie," Nolan said, laughing. Alyss adjusted the knit lavender hat that she always wore over her mess of curly brown hair. If she flicked it a certain way when it wasn't on her head, it turned into a set of 3 blades that she could either lock together into a shield or throw individually as weapons.

"Nol, I'm plenty professional. I get to be your bodyguard, don't I?" Alyss replied defensively.

"I don't know that that's based on your professionalism. It's more the fact that you can keep up with me, I think," Nolan answered. Alyss adjusted her hat again, something she always did when she was embarrassed or nervous. Nolan pulled her hands away from the hat. "Al, I don't' mean you're not an amazing bodyguard. I just don't think 'professional' will ever be the right word to describe you."

"Then what do you think _is_ the right word?" Alyss snapped, pretending she was angry. Of course, she wasn't – she was pretty much incapable of staying angry with Nolan for more than 15 seconds. They were too close for that.

"Manipulative," replied Nolan. Alyss rolled her eyes. He continued, "Lyssie, don't forget that my mother asked that you wear an actual dress to the party this year."

Alyss tugged at the edge of her loose-fitting grey shirt and looked down towards her bare feet, which were poking out from the end of the black pants she was wearing. She said, "Aw, Nolan, do I have to?"

He laughed and said, "I think so, Young Alyss. Mother seemed like she wasn't going to let you get out of it this year."

Alyss sighed. Just at that moment, Homburg Molly found her way into the garden that the two teens were occupying. She said, "Alyss, please come inside. I have to see if you even own a dress that you can still fit into."

Alyss rolled her eyes. "I'll be there in a moment, Molly," she said. She turned back to Nolan and whispered, "Green?" He nodded.

Alyss walked off after her mother. They discovered that, yes, she did own a dress and not only that, it still fit. In no time at all, Alyss was wearing a pale blue dress that was not quite ankle-length. Molly insisted that she take off her lavender hat for the party, but Alyss kept it clutched in her hand as she walked down to Nolan's room. When she knocked on his door, this time he answered immediately. He had also changed for the party. His clothing wasn't that different from his normal clothing – just a dress shirt and black pants – but he was completely stunned at how radically changed Alyss's clothing was. He paused for a moment, making sure that it was still Alyss that he was looking at – then he saw her hat in her hand, being held the way some small children cling to their security blanket. He said, "Oh, Lyss, you look great!"

Alyss blushed. "Nol, can we just get on with the plan?"

He nodded. They sat down on a small couch in Nolan's room. They talked and joked and sat around killing time for a while. Then Alyss closed her eyes for a moment. "Done," she said. Then they heard the scream.

"Green?" asked Nolan.

"Green," agreed Alyss.

Emalie stormed down the hall toward Nolan's door. She was wailing, "NOLAN! ALYSS! YOU TWO ARE IN SERIOUS TROUBLE THIS TIME!" She thundered into Nolan's room. The angry 11-year-old was wearing a pink party dress and had her hair half done – her bright green hair. Nolan and Alyss burst out laughing. A minute later, Emalie and Nolan's father, King Dodge Heart, ran into the room after Emalie.

"Really? Green?" Dodge sighed exasperatedly. Nolan and Alyss both immediately pointed at each other. Dodge laughed.

"Don't worry, Emalie, it'll wear off in a few hours," Alyss said amusedly.

"HOURS! NOLAN, ALYSS, YOU KNOW THAT THE PARTY IS STARTING IN A FEW _MINUTES_!" Emalie roared.

"Think of it this way, sweetie, at least it looks fantastic with the dress," Dodge said, trying not to join in the uproarious laughter of the 17-year-olds. The fuming princess stormed away, screaming for her mother. Dodge turned to the two teenagers and said, "So that was the prank this year?"

"Yep. And I think she handled it quite well, on the whole. Remember that one year when we imagined her dress orange?" Nolan replied happily.

"I sure do. She started throwing stuff at me!" Alyss exclaimed.

"She was six, and to be fair, it wasn't a particularly nice shade of orange," Dodge reasoned. "You know, she has one thing right – the party's starting. Older Alyss and Homburg Molly are going to want you two down in the garden soon."

"Indeed they will. Come, Young Alyss," Nolan said unnecessarily formally, offering his arm. Alyss brushed past him, still clinging to her hat as if letting go would be the end of her. Which, knowing Alyss, it might be.

A few minutes later, they found themselves at yet another extravagant royal family birthday party. Once they had proven that they were there to Homburg Molly and Queen Alyss and apologized half-heartedly for turning Emalie's hair green, the two teenagers found their way to a quiet corner of the party.

"I don't know why they always make us apologize," Nolan said, just like he had every year for the last 9.

"It's just part of the tradition, Nol," Alyss replied patiently.

Nolan glanced around them and then whispered to Alyss, "Lyssie, let's leave the party."

"What do you mean, Nol? Just leave? What would we do?" Alyss asked concernedly, knowing that if anything happened to Nolan whilst they were away, it would technically be her fault as his bodyguard.

"Relax, Lyssie, it'd only be for the afternoon. I've got a picnic all ready," Nolan replied.

"But Nolan, what if Molly or Bibwit or Dodge or Older Alyss catches us leaving? What if something goes wrong while we're away?" Alyss asked.

"Lyss, there won't be any problems!" he answered. Alyss must not have looked convinced, because he continued, "Lyss, you're usually the one leading me into trouble!"

"First of all, that's hardly true. Second of all, as your bodyguard I'll be held responsible if anything goes wrong. And there's _so_ much that could go wrong here!" Alyss retorted.

"Al, I'll go even if you don't – and you'll be responsible if I get myself into trouble without you there, because you won't be there to guard me, making you a pretty lousy bodyguard," Nolan replied, knowing that he'd won the argument. "Lyssie, it's only a picnic. What harm can it do?"


End file.
